DEERFIELD VALLEY- During this legislative session, Senators Dick Sears, of Bennington, Bob Hartwell, of Manchester, and John Moran, of Windham-Bennington 1, worked on several issues including public safety, transportation, energy-related issues, and economic development. Even though Readsboro is the only Deerfield Valley town in Bennington County, all of them worked to enhance the area’s economic and environmental well-being.

As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sears was busy from the get-go. On May 9, the House and Senate passed a sex crimes bill that broadened the definition of sex crimes. According to WPTZ Channel 5, “the bill moves Vermont closer but is still not in full compliance with a 2006 federal law (also known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act).” The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is designed to make responses to sex crimes more uniform around the country. It also mandates sex offenders to register and update their whereabouts; failure to comply results in a felony.

WPTZ Channel 5 reports that “Vermont currently has about 400 people on its Internet registry, with an ‘underlying’ registry available to law enforcement and certain employers like schools.” The wording of the new sex crimes bill includes Internet sex offenders and “the measure also would move most prosecution for teen ‘sexting’ to juvenile court.” Sears played a major role in strengthening Vermont’s sex crime bill, which was signed by Governor Jim Douglas.

Sears also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He said the Legislature passed a $455 million transportation spending bill that calls for a two-percent tax on the wholesale price of gasoline and diesel fuel. Sears added language to the transportation bill to seek out alternative transportation that would benefit Bennington County.

House Bill 438 allows “the Agency (of Transportation) to examine the alternatives, relative costs and benefits ... that are available to the state with respect to the purchase of passenger rail equipment to be used in place of existing Amtrak equipment employed in the Vermonter and Ethan Allen services.” The bill will encourage the state to develop rail transit and apply for federal funds. “There’s no railroad from Bennington to Albany. We would like to hook into Amtrak line (to New York) and have a train run from Bennington to Burlington. This could certainly help Deerfield Valley as well,” said Sears.

Sears also secured $20,000 for Shires of Bennington, a partnership between Bennington and Manchester to assist in economic development purposes. Sears said he would like to establish a similar program between Bennington and the Deerfield Valley next year.

Hartwell serves on the Senate Natural Resources Committee and he said the committee spent its time on the Vermont Yankee decommissioning bill. The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon supplies one-third of the state’s electrical capacity and is up for relicensure in 2010.

According to Vermontbiz.com, “the Vermont Legislature passed the decommissioning bill in order to protect Vermonters from a significant financial risk if the present owner of Vermont Yankee, Entergy Corporation, spins off the plant to a highly leveraged company, Enexus.” The Legislature was concerned if the spinoff occurs and the decommissioning fund is inadequate, Vermont will be held responsible for cleaning up Vermont Yankee.

The Legislature passed the Decommissioning Bill last month, but Governor Douglas vetoed the legislation. After Douglas’ veto, a recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission report stated that Vermont Yankee was not saving enough money to pay for the plant’s decommissioning process. Hartwell said Douglas’ veto was “extremely poorly advised. (Governor Douglas) has continued to insist that Vermonters pay the cost of decommissioning given the obvious intention of Entergy Corporation, the plant’s owner, not to do so,” said Hartwell. “The administration and its supporters in the Vermont House must be held accountable for their willingness to leave Vermonters to pay to decommission Vermont Yankee given a nearly $700 million dollar shortfall in the decommissioning fund.”

Moran is the ranking member on the House General, Housing, and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which focused on several small issues. In General, the committee examined the lowering of the drinking age from 21 to 18 years. No bills were introduced, but the committee listened to testimony from both sides.

In Housing, Moran said the committee fought hard to prevent Governor Douglas from cutting 78% from the Vermont Housing and Conservation budget. “The governor tried to decimate the VACB. He tried to cut it down from $14 million to $3 million. We managed to restore the money,” said Moran.

Moran added the Legislature passed an addendum that strengthens the Wine Bill. The Wine Bill allows wholesale wine dealers to sell products at local and state festivals. This year, they added distilled liquor to the bill. “They can now sell bottled liquors, which is one step further to help Vermont-based businesses,” said Moran.